It's been a long time coming, but PETTY LITTLE STINGS, the dark fantasy comic Randy Haldeman and I did, is finally alive and running free in the world!

Originally conceived of as a 24 Hour Comics Day project, the book evolved into something more in-depth and the result is a dark fantasy, riffing on the traditional fairy tale Sleeping Beauty, that takes place in a world of blood and magic. PETTY LITTLE STINGS is, at its heart, a tale about hubris and its consequences.

It's a story that came to me surprisingly easily, one of those few that seemed to just tumble from my fingers onto the keyboard, and very different from anything else I've done. Randy worked really hard on the art and produced something that's dark and scratchy and vibrant and a perfect fit. The cover was even included as a winner in the prestigious Spectrum contest, which I mentioned last year.

The book has been a long time coming, but it's worth the wait. It's come out beautifully and it's something both Randy and I are very proud of. I'm working on getting a digital edition up and physical copies are currently available in Randy's online store for only $4.

A few months ago, I had a story published in DRABBLEDARK: AN ANTHOLOGY OF DARK FICTION, and the publisher. Shacklebound Books, is now running a Kickstarter to fund the second volume.

From the editor, Eric Fomley:

Sixty-Five excellent authors unite for the second Drabbledark anthology! The Drabbledark anthology series features 100-word micro fiction stories known as drabbles. Despite their length, drabbles are still stories with a beginning, middle, and at least the hint of an ending. They are tiny doses of fiction that can be read and enjoyed in a minute or two, perfect for lunch breaks at work, standing in line, or readers with busier lifestyles that can't commit to sitting down to read full-fledged short fiction or novels. Drabbledark II is a collection of chilling Dark Science Fiction, Horror, and Dark Fantasy short fiction.

There's a ton of reward levels and rewards that include Shacklebound book bundles, both physical and ebooks of the previous volume of DRABBLEDARK, as well as other Shacklebound anthologies.

As I mentioned a few months ago, I sold a second western story, entitled, "Trail of Lead and Gold" to Crimson Streets Magazine. You might remember they published my last western, "A Hanging Matter" back in May.

Now, "Trail of Lead and Gold" is in the newest issue!

Framed for the murder of the best friend he ever had, Mark Jacobs and a saddlebag full of gold on are on the run from a mining camp lynch mob!

Click here to read (or click the image below) and let me know what you think. I'm very proud of this piece!

As you may or may not be aware, Electric Pentacle Press, publisher of my novel THIS ROUGH OLD WORLD, closed its doors recently. This leaves my novel homeless and out of print, along with EPP's other publications, except Occult Detective Quarterly Magazine, which has already moved to another publisher.

I'd like to thank EPP's publisher, Travis Neisler, for taking a chance on the book and all he and EPP did in putting it together and getting it out into the world.

As of this posting, THIS ROUGH OLD WORLD has already been pulled from all sales outlets, including Amazon, so if you were thinking about picking up a copy, the very small number of them I have, are the only ones left unspoken for in the world. These are now collector's items for fans of weird fiction and noir, so hit me up, if you're interested.

If you bought TROW in its first edition, you have my heartfelt thanks. It was truly a labor of love and for a first novel, I'd like to think it's pretty damned good.

I'm not about to let it go just yet, either. Tom Ahearn's first recorded case is only the beginning and I'm not ready to let it go out of print and into that warm, Los Angeles night. Currently, I'm investigating options for a new home for TROW and hope to have good news to share with all of you soon.

I've read this series three times and all the years after I first discovered it, it's still probably my favorite manhwa series (tied with AARON'S ABSURD ARMADA).

I've mentioned it here before, in fact, but that was a few years ago. Since I love it, and it's little known here in the which is a shame because it really is a fantastic coming of age story, it deserves another look.

You might guess from the title and cover that this is a sex comic, and there is some of that, to be fair, but it's hardly the focus of the story. In fact, You-jung Lee has created a remarkably realistic and easy-to-relate to coming of age story in LET'S BE PERVERTS, one that ably mixes comedy, pathos and yes, some sex stuff.

The story's main character is Perverto (Byeontae in the original Korean, which means "transformation", but sounds identical to the Korean transliteration of the Japanese hentai, meaning "pervert") and everyone he knows, of course, knows what "pervert" means in English.

Contrary to his name, however, Perverto is actually a very shy, considerate kid, but when a series of innocent accidents occurs at his school, he's branded the local pervert and his family chooses to move to another city to allow him a fresh start. On his very first day at his new school, however--in fact, on his way to school--he's framed for groping a girl on the subway... by none other than his new math teacher, starting the cycle he tried to escape all over again.

What follows over the course of four volumes is really a story about growing up and making a place for yourself not only in the world, but inside your own head. Perverto is absolutely determined to live a "normal" life, without bothering anyone and without being bothered in turn, but discovers that sort of life isn't really worth living and the more he tries to keep out of situations where he might find undue trouble, the more they keep occurring.

Along the way, he makes friends, gets involved in the problems of a few people who make his own issues look trivial and occasionally falls off the path of the straight and narrow. In fact, the title of the series comes from a particularly revealing story arc in which, sick of being constantly accused of things he hasn't done just because of his name, Perverto decides to live up to the title of "pervert" - only to discover just how dehumanizing and soul-crushing such a life can be. I won't spoil exactly what happens, because it really is the crux of the series in a way, but it's got a power to it that goes beyond what you'd expect of a comic like this.

Aside from the story, the art is decent. It's not amazing, but it's competent for the style needed here, fitting into a niche somewhere between the heavily-manga-influenced manhwa that is typically the bulk of what gets translated into English (the kind of material that publishers simply pass it off as manga) and more western styles. Unusual and expressive faces are what Lee seems to excel at and he puts it to good use more often than not. Some of my favorites are the secret faces Perverto's father (who is, in fact, a pervert) often makes when he's gotten away with something - especially if Perverto or his younger brother Pervergu have taken the blame.

Overall, it's a short, very good read, the kind of story you'd not usually find in western comics and if you're looking for something a little out of the ordinary, check it out.